I’ve noticed a trend in my family research: I tend to use the backdoor approach in finding an elusive ancestor. Family research can be very frustrating and sometimes you need to walk away for a while. Sometimes I am stubborn and will not give up!

My frustration leads me to using the backdoor approach. There are several ways to do this, but I will focus on so-called random names listed on a census, witnesses or sponsors of marriages or births, names listed on deeds, and any name listed on a record tied to the family you are searching for.

                                         Example (1870 NYC Census):


Mary Riley/Reilly was the ancestor I was trying to track down. This is a very common name, especially among the Irish in NYC, so just relying on the above was not going to work. In NYC census records and sometimes other locations, the address will be listed on the side or top of the census. Before finding this, I had Mary’s address at the time of her marriage (1871) which was listed on the marriage record. Also on the marriage record were witnesses: Patrick Lynch and Kate Sheridan (Bingo!).

So, why is this the correct Mary Riley/Reilly? She was living/rooming with the marriage witness at the address on her marriage record! I ran across this census record months or maybe a year before I knew much about Mary and tossed it aside in frustration because there were so many Mary Rileys/Reillys in NYC at the time and at this age. My frustration with finding the correct Mary led me to search census records for Catherine or Kate Sheridan, which led me to Mary. This find led to many other discoveries I will post about later.

Point of post? The so-called random names or witnesses are on that document for a reason. They may seem random, but usually they are not.